


Stay With Me

by makethestorylast



Category: Hatchetfield Universe - Team StarKid
Genre: Alternate Universe, Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Fix-It of Sorts, Gen, ily guys so fucking much, let john mcnamara be a dad please and thanks, shoutout to jest for hyping this one up
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2020-12-14
Updated: 2020-12-14
Packaged: 2021-03-10 18:20:09
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,447
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/28071582
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/makethestorylast/pseuds/makethestorylast
Summary: John MacNamara never quite got over the pain of seeing an innocent child wrapped up in the same eldritch horrors he faced daily. So when a member of his team reported a girl trapped in the smoldering rubble of what was once the Lakeside Mall, he was willing to do whatever it took to save the strikingly familiar teen.
Relationships: Lex Foster & John McNamara
Comments: 8
Kudos: 24





	Stay With Me

**Author's Note:**

> CW // Mentions of fire, smoke inhalation and effects, brief unconsciousness

John MacNamara didn’t find much satisfaction in the ending of a mission. More often than not, they ended in destruction. In crumbling buildings and charred remains. In innocent victims trapped, unable to be reached, left to die alone without a proper burial.

Missions also tended to end in lies and deception. He knew this better than anyone, being at the front for much of his career. The general public was easily frightened, and the horrors of his day-to-day life were not-so-easily explained. 

Over the years he desensitized himself to the horror, the destruction, even the deception—though granted, he had a much harder time reconciling with the fact that lying was a moral obligation now—but the one thing that never failed to break him was children.

Here, standing before the charred remains of the Lakeside Mall, he wondered to himself if there were any children left inside. He closed his eyes and took a breath, trying not to cough at the smell of smoke. Black Friday… the kids should be on break, shouldn’t they? Who’s to say there wasn’t some poor little kid in there, buying a new toy after spending the whole year saving up for it, some innocent kid who didn’t deserve to get caught up in this mess?

He shook his head, as if it might help clear it. “Walk the perimeter,” he said, uncharacteristically quiet. “Make sure there isn’t anyone left.”

The agent to his right nodded, taking off toward what was left of the mall, leaving John alone to his thoughts.

They’d gotten everyone out, for the most part. The cultists were too far gone—he shivered, remembering the way their eyes lit up an unnatural green, all trained on him the second he walked through the door. Like they were waiting on him.

Or, he thought, like they didn’t expect him at all. Like him being alive was never part of the plan.

A shout from his left snapped him out of his thoughts.

“General! There’s someone in there, a girl—”

“Take me to her,” he said, voice stiff and curt. He followed the agent to the side of the mall, barely present in the moment, mind already running through worst-case scenarios. 

They finally got close enough for John to get a look, and he breathed a sigh of relief. She wasn’t nearly as young as he worried. At his best guess, she might be 18 or so, still school age, but with any luck she had a good enough head on her shoulders.

Something about her seemed… familiar. Like they’d met each other before. It wasn’t a rare circumstance, of course. It wouldn’t be the first time he’d seen someone twice on the job. But this was different. A protective urge rose up inside him for a split second.

“Are you alright?” he asked, stepping closer. He could feel the heat radiating from the charred remains of the building. 

“Does it look like I’m alright?” she spat back, then coughed. Her voice was ragged and hoarse. She’d been trapped there for a while then, if she’d inhaled that much smoke. But he didn’t see any blood or cuts, and only a few cursory bruises. He refused to get his hopes up this early. 

“Tell me what’s wrong.”

“My leg is stuck,” she said, pulling it slightly. Her face contorted in pain, and the effort sent her into another coughing fit, one that made her wheeze and gasp for air.

They had to get her out of there.

John moved closer, trying to find what exactly her leg was trapped under. Most of it was inconsequential rubble, little bits of stone and charred wood that didn’t have enough weight combined to keep her pinned down, but a huge, still-smoldering beam of wood laid over her knee, heavy enough that she couldn’t possibly be able to pull her leg out. 

He motioned for the agent with him to grab one side, then grabbed the other. He turned to the girl.

“We’re going to lift this, and I need you to pull your leg out, and then tell us when it’s free so we don’t drop it back on your leg. Alright?”

She nodded, still gasping for air. John pushed up on the beam of wood, watching ashes fall from it like snow. It was lighter than he expected, although having a second person lifting certainly helped.

The girl cleared her throat and signaled that she was free, so John nodded at the agent and they dropped it, barely flinching at the loud thud. Immediately, John was at the girl’s side, carefully pulling her to her feet and wrapping an arm around her waist. She continued to cough and wheeze, barely able to draw a breath, much less form a coherent sentence, but John talked to her nonetheless.

“It’s alright, we’re going to get you out of here. Can you tell me your name, kid?”

She managed to whisper “Lex,” before devolving into another fit of coughs.

“Alright, Lex. You’re doing very well, just keep walking, okay? I’ve got you, we’re nearly there, okay?” 

He noticed as they got closer to the light outside that her skin was worryingly pale and her steps were getting careless. He watched her stumble slightly, her eyes fluttering. She coughed again, the force of it shaking her whole body, and managed to whisper, voice still incredibly hoarse, “Do you know where my sister is?”

“She’s alright, Lex, we’ve got her.” That was a lie, John didn’t know who she was talking about at all, but he knew that she had to get out _now_ , and anything that could make her refuse to leave wasn’t worth discussing. “You can meet her outside, okay?”

“She’s not scared, is she? She gets scared, sometimes, if ‘m not there.” Her voice was slurring more than John anticipated, and she started to lean more of her weight on him as they pressed forward. 

“She’s alright, Lex. Just a little further, we’re so close, and then you can see her, okay?” Just a little further. He adjusted his arm, trying to redistribute her weight as she stumbled more frequently. “Are you hurt?”

“Leg hurts like a bitch,” she mumbled, coughing again. “Head hurts. Feels like… like I’m gonna pass out…?” she finished, phrasing it like a question. She blinked, like she was trying to clear spots from her vision.

“You just need to make it a little further. You’ll be alright. Just stay with me, Lex.”

He pulled her through the opening in the side of the mall and toward the front, steering her gently away from the smoke, but before he could get her close to anyone, she stumbled again, collapsing on the ground in front of them.

“Call a medic,” he said immediately, and when the agent next to him didn’t move, still frozen in shock, he shouted again, “Call a medic, now!” 

He kneeled down next to Lex. She coughed again, trying feebly to push herself up with one hand. Good, she wasn’t unconscious yet.

“Hey, hey,” he soothed gently. “You’re going to be okay. Look at me.” 

She tried to lift her head but started coughing again, turning on her side but failing to support herself and falling back on her back. John instinctively reached out a hand to steady her.

“I know you,” she whispered hoarsely. “From somewhere.” She squeezed her eyes shut.

“Okay. Okay. Can you keep talking for me?”

She didn’t respond, just kept her eyes squeezed tight. Finally, after far too long, she mumbled, “Dizzy.”

“I know. There’s a medic on their way right now, just keep talking, okay? You need to keep talking. Stay with me, Lex. Stay with me.”

She collapsed.

Not a second later, a team of medics swarmed her, ushering John away. He stepped back, but his eyes never left Lex. He said quietly, without moving, “Go find her sister.”

“How?” the agent asked slowly, confused but clearly not wanting to upset him.

“Ask every girl in that crowd if they know a ‘Lex’ for all I care. Get her sister, we’ll take her with us.”

“We’re going with that girl?” he asked incredulously.

“I am. Whether you choose to accompany me or stay here with the rest of the team is your decision, I suppose. But I… I need to make sure she’s alright.”

“Do you know her?” he whispered.

John caught a glimpse of Lex, who had regained consciousness and was staring at the medical team blankly. She caught his eye, and recognition flickered across her face. That same protective urge from before flared up again.

“No,” he admitted. “But I think I _did._ In some other time.”

**Author's Note:**

> Remember to drop a comment/kudos if you enjoyed!
> 
> <3
> 
> [Check out my other socials here!](https://linktr.ee/makethestorylast)


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